James O’Keefe, OMG undercover reporters, and members of the Justice League went undercover at polling locations across Minneapolis on Minnesota Primary Election Day, August 11, 2026, to put the state’s voter “vouching” system to an extreme test.
Under Minnesota Statutes § 201.061, a voter who is already registered in a precinct can sign an oath stating that they personally know another individual is a resident of that precinct. One registered voter can vouch for up to eight people.
O’Keefe and members of the Justice League dressed in traditional Muslim attire and entered Minneapolis polling locations, presenting an intentionally extreme scenario to expose what they see as the lunacy of the state’s “vouching” system.
At the first location, O’Keefe explicitly told an election worker that the people accompanying him were not registered and asked whether he could vouch for them.
“I can vouch for them. They are not registered.”
“That’s okay. That’s fine. Yeah!” the election worker responded.
O’Keefe then pushed the scenario further, asking whether he could leave and return with five more people. The worker told him he could vouch for up to eight.
“Up to eight people?” O’Keefe asked.
“Yes,” the worker responded.
O’Keefe told the worker he would go back, get additional people, and return to the polling location.
The team then moved to another Minneapolis polling location to see whether they would receive the same response.
There, an election worker explained that if the individuals lived in the same precinct and O’Keefe was already registered there, he could vouch for them as proof of residency.
O’Keefe again pressed the worker about how many people he could bring.
“How many people may I vouch for?”
“Eight.”
“Eight? I can vouch for eight people?”
“Mm-hmm.”
During the encounter, the role of the voucher was summed up in one striking statement from an election worker: “You’re the ID.”
O’Keefe repeated the statement back: “I am the ID.”
OMG undercover reporters continued to additional polling locations, including White Park Recreation Center, to push the system further.
There, an undercover reporter asked what would happen if the people being vouched for did not have identification. The election worker explained that the reporter could vouch for up to eight people, provided he personally knew them and knew they lived within the precinct.
The OMG reporter then pressed the worker on what actually happens after someone is vouched for.
The worker explained that the voucher signs a legal oath affirming that they know the individuals and know they live in the area. The individuals being vouched for also sign an oath affirming their identity and eligibility to vote.
When the reporter asked whether their eligibility was actually verified, the worker responded:
“After the fact, yeah.”
Minnesota Statutes § 201.061 allows an individual to establish residence for voter registration by having a voter already registered in the precinct sign an oath, in the presence of an election judge, vouching that they personally know the individual is a resident of that precinct.
The OMG investigation was designed to take that system off the pages of the statute book and put it to an extreme real-world test.
Across Minneapolis, O’Keefe and OMG undercover reporters repeatedly presented election workers with the same basic scenario: multiple unregistered people, no standard identification, and a registered voter willing to vouch for them.
The team wanted to determine how election workers would respond, what safeguards they would describe, and how far they would allow the vouching process to proceed.
Not every election worker reacted the same way.
While several workers explained how the undercover team could proceed under the vouching rules, others became suspicious of the group and took issue with the investigation. Some workers communicated concerns about the team over their radios.
That contrast became another part of what OMG documented: the same conduct that some election workers treated as permissible under Minnesota’s vouching rules raised immediate concerns among others.
The investigation captured how Minnesota’s vouching system was explained and applied by election workers inside Minneapolis polling locations when O’Keefe and OMG undercover reporters deliberately pushed it to an extreme.
The investigation is part of an ongoing Justice League series, with additional reporting from Anthony Rubin and Cam Higby, members of the Justice League, coming soon.
If you’ve witnessed fraud in your community or have information relevant to this investigation, email us at [email protected] or message us securely on Signal at 914-491-9395. An OMG journalist will get back to you.
